@Dolemite I think he would’ve rather had a nice teacher, less stressful senior year ,and flunked the AP test to be honest.
Hey guys I’m not the one complaining about a cruddy teacher. Son17 has never had an issue with a teacher at his school, he just thinks this one does not do a particularly good job teaching the material. He has had to put in a lot of extra self study all year, and really had to work to learn the material. He also said she was a really tough grader and generally just not entertaining while presenting, and kind of mean spirited too. So I’ll take his word on it, not everyone can be considered a great teacher by every student.
I think the teacher did a fin job preparing the kids I guess, as he said he thinks he did well on the test. I’m happy he’s done with that class. I’m hoping son19 can avoid that teacher in the coming years.
My D also had a terrible stats teacher - which unlike with @RightCoaster , I think will be evidenced by how poorly everyone does on the AP exam… I believe he didn’t even get to some of the material that’s on the test!!
I never know with D, but my guess is she might get 5’s on BC calc and Physics, but like a 3 on stats…
Every school has those teachers, the AP stats teacher at my DS school is really hard and grades hard B in the class but a 5 on the test. Let’s hope the same result for your son. The kids have every right to express if they don’t like teachers that is a part of life having to deal with different personalities but complaining is allowed at least at my house. Sometimes I think these HS teachers think they are college professors at least at our school!
S’s calc teacher (who is a great, but hard teacher) will give an A in the class, final grade, to students who score a 5 on the calc B/C exam. I’ll say that most of the kids in the class have As, but one of D15s friend got her grade raised from a B to an A by getting a 5!
We seem to have more teachers that go the other way. Kids getting As or Bs in AP class but getting 3s (or even 2s) on the AP exams. Not the way it should work IMO (at least not if the kids are actually trying on the AP exams). Had one teacher who told the kids an A in the class would result in a 5 on the AP exam, a B would result in a 4 on the AP exam, etc. But parents and kids didn’t like that at all.
Good luck to your son on getting that 5 on the Stats AP @RightCoaster. Sweet victory for the pain he felt in that class all year.
My son is having a rough week. He texted me right after the Macroeconomics exam that he was feeling very sick and was going to be heading straight home. It raised a red flag because he tends to minimize when he is feeling ill. I asked if he thought he needed to see the doctor and he said he was leaning towards going to see the doctor. Glad he did as he has strep. Missed two APs this week so AP testing in our house has not ended. The two tests await him next week. He’s not doing well so I am hoping he is feeling better soon. I’m glad he was able to go to prom a couple of weeks ago and enjoy himself and other than these AP tests, which isn’t a big deal since he can take them next week, he isn’t missing out on anything.
Hi all, DS is flying back today from a hacking award ceremony at CMU. He still has AP Micro left to take on Wednesday. He missed the regular test because of the trip he is on–not that his AP scores will count at all. Other than that one, all his AP tests are done. He’ll have an English project to do, but no finals.
He still has 4 weeks of school left, but half a week is a trip to the Bay Area Maker Faire and the last week is no classes. The end of high school is approaching!
Do we need a QOTD? (Or a few days, since we’ve slowed down noticeably?)
Which teacher was the best your kid had from K-12? Just a chance to hat-tip to a great teacher.
QOTD: Best teacher DS’s best ever teacher was his 5th grade teacher, Mr. P. He had the kids write a response to something they’d read every couple weeks. It had to be more thoughtful than just a “book report” and Mr. P provided several topic examples. It really got DS to think more deeply about literature. DS has always been a STEM guy, so this helped balance him out. Mr. P was a History major, and some of his love of history also rubbed off on DS.
The best thing was that Mr. P took the time to respond to each kid about how they could improve their writing and promised the kids that his response would be as long as whatever they wrote–up to a full page of commentary. He provided wonderful feedback, and it was just at the level each kid needed to hear next. The notebook that contains DS’s writings and Mr. P’s responses is one of DS’s treasured keepsakes.
We knew Mr. P’s family, so we knew how much time he spent on his responses. It included paying sitters to watch their own two kids while he and his wife (a HS history teacher) spent more time grading than most teachers.
Mr. P attended Deep Springs College for his first two years of college, and was hoping he could talk DS into applying. He wasn’t ever successful at finding a kid who was the right fit to want to attend Deep Springs, but that’s a pretty specific fit.
Unfortunately, none of DS’s subsequent English teachers have been anywhere close to the standard set by Mr. P. But, he learned so much that year, that it’s enough.
The best teacher my older D had was her junior year English teacher. D loved her so much she sought her out again senior year for a creative writing class.
D17 would probably say her best teacher was her junior year history teacher, since that was the year D decided that her favorite subject was no longer math but history. That’s some good teaching right there.
Best K–12 teacher: Mr Pitts, who recently retired as a chemistry teacher, spent his entire career at my high school, and I took AP chemistry from him. I still remember the “Mr Pitts Greyhound Bus Rule of Valence Electron Distribution”, which is that electrons go into shells one at a time and resist pairing up unless they absolutely have to because no other spots are available, just like people filling in seats in a Greyhound bus.
I got to invite him to a reception for influential teachers my senior year of college, which is the last time I saw him. I should see if I can googlestalk his address…
(Also, bonus: He was a black science teacher. I didn’t realize at the time how incredibly helpful for dealing with people in my later life it was—not entirely but largely in countering some of the intense old-confederacy racism that was simply in the air where I grew up—that the best not just teacher, but science teacher i had was black.)
QOTD – This year’s physics & math teachers are high up there. And last year - AP Lang - and he generally doesn’t like English but his teacher was great! Others – 6th grade science teacher was terrific (tried to answer DS’ excessive questions) and kindergarten teacher was amazing - lots of exploring and nurturing - played guitar and had a very special classroom.
QOTD: Feeling very fortunate for the many wonderful teachers throughout the years. DS wouldn’t weigh in on a “best”… too attached and loyal to choose. I’ll give a shout out to Mrs. G from 3rd grade. DS loved learning due to the energy, wit & fun she brought to the classroom. Mrs. G was tuned in to DS’s potential, encouraged and challenged him, and made a positive life long impact. Here’s to Mrs. G! :x
QOTD: We were so fortunate he had many outstanding teachers. 2nd grade teacher would tailor math to his level to keep him interested. 5th grade was the same way and also got his odd sense of humor. His math and English teachers in HS have been particularly outstanding as well as his music teacher. Last year’s English teacher volunteered to review any kid’s college essays this year and that was particularly helpful and showed in the acceptances the kids got. We are fortunate to have awesome public schools in our area with mostly dedicated, loving teachers.
I believe he didn’t even get to some of the material that’s on the test!!
